President Donald Trump handed the top job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s deputy after heated clashes on vaccine policy triggered an exodus from the agency.

Deputy Health Secretary Jim O’Neill has been tapped to serve as acting CDC director, an administration official told the Daily Beast Thursday. The Washington Post was the first to report the appointment.

O’Neill replaces Susan Monarez, a microbiologist and infectious diseases researcher nominated by Trump who was axed after less than a month on the job. When her lawyers refuted a CDC statement indicating that she was no longer director, the White House stepped in to kick her out.

“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives an

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